You might think a pergola is a pergola. It is not. They range from ugly to really ugly to stunningly beautiful. As I found out this winter while searching for one for my backyard. If you’re looking for the stunningly beautiful type, here are 10 great options to inspire you.
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Here’s the thing with Canada. As soon as spring hits, the catalogues and flyers start showing up in the mail with pictures of happy families standing around a grill grinning like lunatics. In some photos they’re sitting stiffly on outdoor furniture with sweaty glasses of lemonade in their hands. Everything look shiny and clean and wonderful.
It’s all a lie. If they wanted to portray real Canadian outdoor living in their catalogues they’d show a photo of a woman with her head out the car window screaming at everyone to get out of her way as she runs 15 consecutive red lights in an attempt to get home before the surprise rain storm hits and soaks all of her family’s outdoor cushions to the point that they weigh 742 pounds each.
You never see a photo like that.
Canada you see, is not really meant for outdoor furniture. Not the upholstered kind anyway. The only way around it is to throw a tarp over your furniture when you’re not using it *just in case* it rains or to build a pergola and throw a tarp over that.
Most pergola’s from home improvement stores come with a cover over them or a retractable shade but … those aren’t recommended for heavy rain or leaving out in bad weather. You’re supposed to wind them up to protect them. Even though they’re supposed to be protecting your outdoor cushions so you don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to thunder, trudge outside, get into a fight with a raccoon, trip on the hose and bust your lip while attempting to cover your furniture with a tarp.
Uh huh. As you may know, I built myself a copy of the Restoration Hardware Aspen collection furniture a couple of years ago. Here’s the post on it. The furniture cost very little to build. A few hundred dollars if I remember correctly. The cushions? They were somewhere around $1,000 to have made. That’s just with regular foam and fade resistant fabric. I could have opted for waterproof fabric and foam but that would have jumped the price of my cushions up to around the price of a 5 vials of plutonium. So I cheapened out.
Now I am that woman screaming home to throw a tarp over her cushions. I am that woman kickboxing a raccoon at 1 in the morning. I don’t want to be that woman anymore.
Which means I have to build a pergola. And then I have to figure out a way to make it waterproof without blocking any sunlight into my house and keep the cost under a nuclear warhead. Good luck to me. This past winter and spring I spent a lot of time on Google and Pinterest marvelling at all the pergolas I couldn’t afford to build. But they did provide some great inspiration.
It turns out there are more pergola designs out there than you can shake a catalogue at.
I’m looking for something rustic and modern at the same time. These (including the one at the top of this page) are 10 of my favourites.
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I love the shape and harshness of the design of this one.
Designed by Marnie Lewis
I mean this is just something else. From the chairs that are bums to the cantilevered steps leading to the outdoor fireplace. It’s stunning. Nothing at all like I could have but it’s still inspirational.
I really like this. I like it a lot. This retractable awning is soft and if made out of a waterproof fabric could actually … dare I say it … be a viable option for me.
I don’t love all the squiggles on the roofing material but I do like the use of 2″x8″s (or whatever they are) as the posts.
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This one is kind of a problem solver. It’s a pergola with a glass roof. But glass seems kind of risky what with the raccoons prowling and pooing and my regular roof. Also I have this big old tree that randomly loses big branches right over where the pergola would be so …
This pergola roof seems to be some type of wire mesh which would give a tiny big of shade. But no protection for cushions.
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I can’t quite tell from the photo but this room (take a closer look, it’s all encased in glass) could have either a glass roof or a polycarbonate roof. A lot of pergolas and gazebos are being outfitted with polycarbonate roofs lately. They’re a plastic material in sort of a honeycomb pattern that comes in clear or a variety of colours allowing light through them but no rain.
sources all spammy
Yeah. I can’t have this but I like it. I have a thing for concrete walls. Love them. I’d do exceptionally well in prison.
again … all sources spammy
This is a real combination of contemporary with a traditional pergola style in terms of the roofing. Maybe too traditional for me, but I do like the black.
After an entire winter and spring of searching for options I’m not really any further along than I was at the start of my search. Other than I’m more confused than ever.
Am seriously considering just Scotchgarding all of my cushions. Even if it costs me $100 a year in Scotchgard that still isn’t anywhere near the cost of plutonium.
Have a good weekend!
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I keep thinking about this dilemma as I too eventually want to put a cover over my patio and not have it block out light. I have a front porch that blocks out light to my second bedroom, big time and I am always calling that room, “the dark room.” I didn’t want the same for my pergola to block out all light from my living room and master bedroom. What I decided to do with my “dark room” is to install a solar tube to let in light to the room. Since it gets hotter than Hades here, having a pergola in the back with slats wouldn’t offer much sun and heat protection (which is what I want), so I will just install another solar tube in the master bedroom as well.
If I recall correctly, you were concerned about light in you kitchen. Seems like nothing but a solid cover will work for you for your patio, so how about putting in a solar tube in the area where the house and pergola “meet” so it would allow for sunlight in that area which would now be blocked by the pergola (whew, sorry for the long sentence). You can get solar tubes with led lights in them so it will add additional light at night. They are not too expensive and you can install them yourself.
What if you built a storage chest for your cushions and just pull them out when your using your patio (just a thought)? At least till you figure out the alternative. I do like the idea of polycarbonate but that stuff’s not cheap either. You could also hang those “sails” overhead (they’re usually triangular for some reason) in white waterproof fabric so you get some light through them.
Or, like you said, there’s scotch guard…
Hi Leslie! The point of the overhead structure is so I don’t have to worry about the cushions if it rains. So I don’t have to run out and cover them up or store them. (I actually have a big shed I could store them in, but that’s a pain and also each of the 4 couch cushions are over 7′ long and very heavy. So moving them whenever it rains isn’t practical. I’ll figure it out. One day. Maybe, lol. ~ karen!
I built a pergola two years ago. I used the design my dad did years ago with 6×6 posts, 2×6 boards on all sides (double on the end) and 2×4 cross beams nailed in between. I used the corrugated polycarb in clear and it’s held up to snow and branches. (however, I should have had more of a slope for rain run off 1/2″ per foot is not adequate.
I discovered that whole slope ratio was a bit of a scam when I built my chicken coop. :/ ~ karen!
Maybe the sail shades from Lee Valley would work? http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=70744&cat=3,71685
What about the sail shades from Lee Valley?
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=70744&cat=3,71685
Perhaps a retractable awning would work – like an RV awning?
I don’t have a picture of my backyard pergola handy, but I can offer up a link to the canopy we’ve used with it for the past several years now. IKEA to the rescue! LOL! https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/40125786/
Ikea OFTEN comes to the rescue, lol! ~ karen
What about a glass garage door? You could leave it in the “up” position and hide the hardware in the chuncky black framing.
https://goo.gl/images/wENbM8
I love that! ~ karen
I had to scroll back up several times to see the pergola with the “bum chairs”. Not for the pergola, no. Um, that’s a bathtub, right? Which could be a little funky if you lived way out in the back of beyond but may send you to enjoy those prison walls a little quicker than you anticipated in the middle of town. Maybe (no, OBVIOUSLY) you have nicer neighbors than I do but they have to draw the line somewhere!
Hey Karen, remember Paul Lefrance? He and his ‘Decked Out’ crew built one creation that had an open pergola over some VERY expensive furniture with a waterproof canvas cover that moved back and forth controlled by a remote control and I’m pretty sure he said it could be controlled by wi-fi. I remember I saved that episode for a long time because they showed enough close ups of the controlling mechanism that I felt I could probably figure out a way to build something similar myself. However, in the end, I built a two story ‘outdoor’ room that was post and beam and glassed in. The beauty of something that tall is that the roof of it is way above the roof line on your house so it does not block any light into your home. The floor to ceiling glass lets all the light in without any problem. I special ordered the 6mm tempered glass for the entire upper floor of the room (18′ x 18′) and two screened opening windows out of Vancouver and even with shipping, it was less than $2000. (You can also use recycled patio door glass which costs nothing) We had some awesome late fall and early spring (snow on the ground and freezing out) dinner parties in there for the two years before we moved. I could see the northern lights through that glass so if it’s tall enough, I know if won’t block light into your house window and it will provide a four season room. Have pics somewhere if you want them.
The first pergola looks easy enough to build if you have a few strong friends. Get a book on post and beam joinery (does anyone say ‘Get a book anymore?). Those metal plates would stabilize it but you could use wooden pegs. We had a free-standing post and beam lean-to added to the garden center where I work and it was built on top of a stone patio. The owner sheathed the outside and has the polycarbonate panels on the roof. They turned cloudy after awhile, but its still bright inside. But the joinery is beautiful. This guy built it by himself and the posts are hand-hewn 6×6’s ands its up to the second floor at the high point. You could do the notching with a circular saw and chisels easy enough. You just need muscle to help you get the beams up. Good luck!
The louvers are moveable, so you can adjust them to get the amount of light that you want and close them during the rain or when you want a solid canopy. You can have the totally open or partially open or open to the way the sun moves or have them closed. Have seen this demo’d at the home and garden show here. They are pricey but they work. You can see them on the internet if you google the term louvered pergola covers. And, no, I don’t work for the company nor google. If I worked for the company, I would probably have them in my yard!
Louvered Pergola Covers–this is what I was talking about in the previous comment. You can close or open them up for the light. They will block out the rain. Very pricey but I am sure you can DIY it somehow in all your cleverness and creativity. Probably can hook them up to wifi so you can close them when you are not at home.
Yes I do like louvered pergolas, but I’m not sure about how much they’d block the light in my kitchen. I wish I could find a louvered pergola that also slides closed. ~ karen!
Hi, I would have commented sooner but I peed my pants with the prison crack and I had to scrub the chair cushion.
Anyhow, I figured since you had a successful go with your RH furniture a pergola is kinda the same, right? I think any of the ones shown in black would tie in perfectly. But if you do some kind of clear roof, I’d make it frosted from the get go, because it’s gonna cloud over time and look really icky.
You’ve got this, Karen.
Our pergola is the last photo. I’ve suspended green vinyl poultry netting from the top beams (exterior) on one end, to jasmine vines I planted. Three years later, they’ve cooperated and created a beautiful and intoxicatingly fragrant living wall. I had to keep weaving the new growth thru the netting every few months, and be very patient, but it was worth it. BTW, it doesn’t snow here.
I have a clear acrylic roof over my back steps. Kinda ugly but lets all the light in and keeps rain out. But a big spring/summer job is washing, nay scrubbing, the winter’s dirt and leaves and spring pollen off the top. This means dragging a garden hose to where I can reach and leaning out second floor windows with a long mop and brush. Very amusing for the neighbors. The back of the house is about 7′ above ground so even if I had a ladder that tall there’s no way I’m climbing up there.
I love a beautiful pergola and if you decide to got in that direction, sue it will be beautiful. In the meantime, I would recommend you look at marine fabric protectors for boaters. A brand named 303 is available in US. Maybe you can find it or something similar in Canada.
Why not build one with modern geometry, chunky black beams, sloped polycarbonate roofing, and a retractable weatherproof awning to cover the polyacarbonate at night from the raccoons? Seems like you could make all of these things happen and your end product would be both beautiful and highly functional.
Yup, all of those are possibilities. It’s just a matter of me deciding what is best for my area. Which could take a while, lol. Much longer than the actual building. ~ karen!
I’m having a similar dilemma myself right now. We are building a deck and I need to figure out shade but want the full sun too, and would love overhead lights but not a big heavy pergola. The landscaper is building the deck without attaching to the house which is stucco. So now I’m afraid to use the hook and eyes I was planning to put into the house to string lights, and maybe a sail shade. We have offset umbrellas but was hoping to save the floor space. If any of you have some ideas, comment away!!
We had a pergola in our back yard when living in the Okanagan Valley, central BC. It was very similar to what you are wishing for….except it was covered with vines. I think they were called a Silver Lace vine. It was about 12 inches thick on top and grew about 3 feet a week! My husband HATED it (he tried to keep it trimmed). The neighbours also had it growing on their fence and there were competing hedge trimmers roaring every weekend. I liked it untrimmed as it would bloom with long tendrils of white flowers (hence the name Silver Lace). Because of the thickness on top we could sit outside in a rainstorm and stay dry! The rain would eventually soak through but only if it bucketed down for hours/days.
Our deck has a pergola with (I think) oriental bittersweet growing up the side and over the top of it. Surprisingly, it keeps out most of the rain. However, it doesn’t let a whole lot of light in. Took awhile for the vine to grow into most of the areas of the pergola, but the result is pretty stunning after running some cafe lights through it.
As a tent camper, I know that waterproof canvas is a misnomer – try waterproof-ish. As kids we would run our finger along the wet surface from inside the tent which then allowed water to come thru the fabric anywhere our mean little fingers wrote. In Florida this would be a sunny day only solution. Or maybe an inside my windows solution – I think they call it Roman shade. Sleeping underneath was a form of water torture our parents used as they went to sleep in the car.
My neighbor has a polycarbonate roof over his patio. It makes funny, cracking noises when the temperature outside changes. Just a thing to keep in mind. Good luck on your pergola adventure :)
Where I am in Brazil is also not made for outdoor furniture. It rains every day in summer and never rains in winter – our 20º C winter.
My low stress, no maintenance suggestion is: get yourself wooden furniture, no cushions and enjoy.
Here in northeast Ohio we have the same problem with rain/snow. I have an enclosed porch with big windows and screens (Not going to deal w mosquitos, flys, or bees, or having to cover up furniture). The wrap around deck lets us be outside as well. No, we don’t have $$. What we had was a husband who was great at building! I did all the painting/staining. He has lost his abilities with time, but I remind him that he built all this, including other things in and around the house. I never “got” pergolas. If it is raining you won’t be using it. If the sun is cooking you alive, you won’t be using it. If the bugs are out and about, THEY will be using YOU! I see their beauty, but function seems to be missing. Oh well, different strokes. Karen, whatever you end up with will be wonderful, I’m sure!
We are currently building a gazebo..it was supposed to be a pergola but I wanted protection from the elements so it has a regular roof in it . It’s going to look pretty cool when it’s finished and will provide us with a nice spot to enjoy the yard..it’s been a lot of work though as we have to move some gardens and add more flagstone patio as my husband and I never seem to be able to build anything small ! Big families do that to a person , we could feed a small army on any given night ! We too looked at different designs and decided to build our own , we will run power to it and install a ceiling fan as well . Have you considered just getting Or building a deck box? We have one on our deck and it holds all of our cushions nicely and they are clean and dry when we need to use them.
Hey Marilyn! My furniture cushions are HUGE. Like 7 feet long, lol. So they’re a real pain to move, otherwise I could just pop them in my shed. ~ karen!
I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN. I get it. However, don’t have a do it yourself kind of husband and I’m too busy. I opted for the weatherproof cushions so I don’t have that kind of stress in my life. Good luck to you, I’ll be watching and drooling from afar.
Hey Karen, speaking as a former furniture salesgirl– Please don’t go with scotchguard. It sits on top of the fabric, and flakes up. It’s awful.
What you want is guardsman spray: soaks into the cushions; is near indestructible. Buy it on amazon. One can costs about $15 USD and does an entire sofa. Or your car interior. Or the white carpet near your front door. Or a few pairs of white pants you bought because for one moment you had a dream– but I digress–
$50 should do your yard cushions easily. Raccoons are still your problem.
Interesting! Thanks I’ll have a look. ~ karen!
We are in love with the addition of this roof over our patio and even use it in cold ontario winter with a fire table to warm our toes.
Beautiful! That’d be so nice to be under in winter or rain! ~ karen
I have a polycarbonate roof on mine. Blocks the UV but allows enough light for my Taro to grow well. If you have trees, be careful of fabric, as it will become a leaf catcher in Autumn, and that’s a pain in the ass to clean.
ok. One vote for polycarbonate. ~ karen!
Another vote for *twinwall* polycarbonate (not plain sheets). Kari’s looks a little dark underneath because her pergola has a lot of wooden slats over the joists, but a local Audubon sanctuary has a polycarbonate roof on their farmstand and it’s very light and airy and looks great. You do have to be sure to build in slope to shed all the schmutz that will fall on it. Also, you can get longer lengths to minimize seams (eg. 4′ x 12′ for $131.72 at interstateplastics(dot)com. Don’t buy at Home Depot (or equivalent): very little selection and twice the price.
And if you want a short-term solution while you plan/save money, here’s an outside-the-box thought: because I needed “temporary” (we’re in a rental) and I didn’t like any of the fancy-schmancy pergolas that can be purchased, I bought an arch-top carport and it’s been perfect. It doesn’t look too carporty; the canopy is off-white so it doesn’t look like and art faire popup tent; and it is surprisingly bright underneath. https://www.shelterlogic.com/shop/monarc-canopy
That’d make a great greenhouse frame! ~ karen
Now if someone could do a black wood pergola with a rectactable tin roof like a slatted blind?
I cracked up at the prison comment,that prison wouldn’t know what hit it, what with the chickens and the whole revamping of the prison yard into pizza ovens and glam furniture-not to mention the various escape routes dug when blonde goddess person became bored with prison togs and bad food…..the images just keep rolling in and now I spilled the durn coffee on the new laptop! P.S. My humble apologies for the insults to Mr. Trudeau and all Canadians for our choice of leadership? We are in the throes of idiocracy -here’s hoping we survive.
Every time I see/hear a Canadian politician I wish I could say “we’re so sorry for the idiocracy (GOOD WORD!) we’ve become in USA. And I did NOT vote for that thing in the White House. Don’t get me started….
Hahaha, that thing in the white house. Another American here who apologizes for “it” and appreciates that Candian grace and class
Thank you Judy, I appreciate it. :) ~ karen!
Yes, sorry for the bad mannered two year old in the white house. My fear (other than him knowing the codes to start WWIII) is that we are in for another 4 more years of this.
I have seen pergolas that have a awning that is like a shutter, that you can angle it open or closed. So it would let in light on sunny days and be shut on rainy ones. They were very expensive (too rich for my blood) but I bet you could hook it up to a smart switch that you could control with your phone and wifi. That way there would be no rushing home if it started to rain.
Thank you for addressing “Canadian Problem #1” during the summer.
I longingly covet beautiful summer patios on Blogs, written by our Southern neighbours, and wonder what they do with all of the prettiness when it rains?
I have a huge, resin wicker chest, that I pile all of my seat cushions in, if there is even a sleight chance of rain. (which happens to be every single day here in Atlantic Canada, even though it doesn’t)
I thought I would splurge and put an indoor/outdoor carpet down this year instead of the plastic variety – Big Mistake! It poured rain yesterday, and because my patio is in constant shade, I have a feeling it will be a sopping wet mess for the foreseeable future :P
Bonus for us? We don’t have to deal with scorpions and other deadly bugs & snakes :)
Jenny, I live in Arizona. I have “weatherproof” cushions on my patio furniture. I watch the weather reports and try to put them away to keep them dry. If they do get wet, it’s hot enough here, that they dry pretty quickly. I pay more attention to the weather if we have people coming over. This time of year it’s too hot to eat outside, otherwise, whatever…
They’ll be replaced in the next couple years anyway and I distract my guest with food, flowers and cocktails. ;)
Personally, I love the one with the retractable awning. Beautiful. Also. Lol’d so hard the prison comment. :’D
I’d for sure be the one who gets caught trying to tunnel her way out with a homemade drill. ~ karen!
I have been planning a pergola that is just the sturdy frame, and then adding steel cables running the entire length just below the top. The plan is to use lengths of sunbrella fabric with grommets attached and small pole handles at one end to make the fabric retractable. Well, retractable if I have a person on the other side, or I can make the poles really long. If I attach the attach the grommets to the cable with removable clips, I can take the fabric down to clean and store for the winter. I need protection from the sun, but want to see the stars at night.
I have a 10 x 12 gazebo with a tin roof that I love. Might not be what you’re looking for but in the winter I just pull the curtains closed and everything is protected for the winter too.
I wish a store bought gazebo would fit, but it won’t. I need something at least 14 x 14 to cover my furniture. ~ karen!
Why don’t you just build the frame of your choice. Whether it is modern or traditional style … then put tin on top? It comes in about 74 colors and is not really all that expensive. The painted colors last forever the galvanized ones come in either coated or non-coated. Non-coated will Rust. I’m currently building my house shower out of these walls. Very rustic and cabiny feeling. Which is what suits my house. My front porch roof and house are tin and I absolutely love hearing the rain on it. And it’s also at the same time quite protective. I will be building a pergola. I have orange tin to do this one. Very bright and colorful and recycled out of a barn. I also am tackled my shed a few years ago and used the orange tin for the roof and
Recycled aluminum siding from a hail storm.
Good luck with your project. I need you to sort this out an post of the finished product and with a step by step tutorial? Please and thanks. Will be waiting patiently. Something I am am not.good at LoL
But it wouldn’t allow light through it, which I think is a deal breaker for Karen. But for her very high demands on the material I think she may end up with a full roof of either glass or plastic.
There is that polycarbonate, translucent stuff that comes in sheets like tin. It’s ugly but if it had a box frame it might look good. The flat poly that looks like actual glass gets hazy and crusty like a shower door in a frat house. It would make an interesting post though; “How To Clean a Roof With Vinegar and Toothpaste That You Probably Already Have Around Your House”.
Find an Arby’s thats being dismantled and take the tempered glass roof?Stack car windshield like slate? Stitch shower curtains into a giant Roman shade? Use E6000 to glue tiles made of milk jugs?? Trying to brainstorm but only sprinkling.
Sarah McDonnell…..
You’re really funny! Laughed out loud.
Hi Jo! My sister who has built a few things has warned me against a tin roof because they’re SO loud. I like the rain but I don’t want it too loud. But mainly I can’t have a tin roof because it would block all the sun going into the only big window in my kitchen. I need a roof that retracts in some way. :) ~ karen!
Can you write a post on how to scotchguard cushions yourself?
I could but really you just spray them with a sweeping motion a couple of times. That’s about it. :) ~ karen!
Aren’t they doing away with Scotchguard as it never disappears from the environment? Or did they reformulate it?
Scotchguard is alive and well as far as I know. It’s definitely on the shelves of my local hardware store. ~ karen!
I removed the covers from my cushions, covered each one with a plastic bag, then replaced the covers. Instant water proofing. The cover gets wet but the foam doesn’t.
Very funny post today! Love it.
I read the title as “the world’s most fantastic PEROGIES”.
I’m a little disappointed. Those certainly are lovely pergolas, but they definitely aren’t perogies.
BAHHAHAHA!!!!
Well darn. Now I’m hungry.
I was expecting perogies too!
Me too! This says something about us, doesn’t it? Not sure what…but something. I have a pergola. I love it. I don’t have any perogies. I hate that.
Sorry. I’ll work on the other one. :) ~ karen!
Hey Karen,
I have the one in the fourth picture down. Costco sells it. Wonderful for shade. But the rain drips through the fabric. Perfect for northern California, but not so great for rainy places.
I pinned a bunch of how-to instructions for that one a while ago. Can’t find the pins now because I pin a lot of crap. I mean things. Knowing it’s available at Costco, which is about 6 blocks away from, is awesome.
I bet if you DIY it, you could use a waterproof fabric, Karen.
One of my friends who is way more sewing-adept than I am made cushion covers for outside from vinyl tablecloths. No idea how they’ll last, but the tablecloths were cheap. I bet one or two could be used in a pergola cover way.
Another option would be to cover it with Tuftex. https://tuftexpanel.com/examples/deek-diedricksen-why-i-use-tuftex/ <- a vlogger I follow uses their stuff all the time.
HI Tracy! I’m just curious, is it exactly like the one pictured, on an angle, made of 2″x10″s? We don’t have it at the Canadian Costco but I do like the look of it. ~ karen!
Hi Karen,
Ours isn’t as chunky. It’s 4x4s or 6x6s, I think. We get quite a lot of dust out here and after a rain or mist it dribbles the dirt onto my cushions. It looks like I spilled coffee everywhere.